We are a global team of experts, with more than 20 years experience in waste management. We established the D-Waste website in order to provide our services in a unique way.

We believe that sound waste management is a key-issue for the sustainability of the urban ecosystems.

We have learned that the bigger the city the more challenging the waste management is.We have worked in more than 20 countries, with different cultural, economic and social conditions.

Through our experiences we have understood that waste management solutions are only local. And although there are global principles, no city or country will face waste management challenges unless local human resources are prepared for that. And this is what we want to do through D-Waste.

D-Waste provides fully customised, affordable and high quality waste management services through a global network of experts that are available to support clients worldwide. We do believe that waste management solutions will be finally developed by local stakeholders, institutions, and human resources. For that purpose our aim is to provide suitable consulting to those who need it most.

D-Waste's philosophy and approach is simple: we want to make waste management consulting easily accessible and affordable for all those who need it. In that framework we deliver different services with the same concept: easy access and cost-effectiveness.

The Ebola pandemic is officially out of control. The situation in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone gets worst day by day. Just for Liberia and Sierra Leone, at the end of September 2014, it is estimated that there are approximately 8,000 total Ebola cases (21,000 total cases when corrected for underreporting).

One of the most important measures required is appropriate management of corpses – waste management during pandemics is a key-element in the effort to contain the viruses’ expansion. Living dead people in the streets or simply transfer them to open dumpsites is a certain contribution that make things much more difficult. Up to now, no one knows what is the fate of corpses, so we better get prepared for the worst case.

This is not a business as usual case. It is a serious global health risk, a pandemic that challenges our ideas and concepts regarding vulnerability, international cooperation and poverty.

First, speaking for Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guiana, it seems that weak governance and administrative structures in national and local healthcare systems are completely unsuitable to manage such a pandemic, despite the heroic efforts of healthcare personnel and the contributions of volunteers, like the “Doctors Without Borders”.

Second, international aid mechanisms and tools are incapable to coordinate a global effort to control the pandemics – this is not the first time we realize it, but for sure it will be probably the worst for the last decades. International response to Ebola came too late and it is too weak. And there will be a very high cost for it.

It is time to realize that in our interconnected world, where decades millions of people travel by airplane, cars, trains on a daily basis, no border can stop the expansion of pandemics, unless they are immediately spotted and controlled.

We certainly know that the lack of a sound waste collection and disposal system creates health problems – now we realize that during pandemics, this is a lethal lack. Have a look at the recent Waste Atlas report (http://www.atlas.d-waste.com) and you will find that 50 huge dumpsites serve more than 60 million people - what are waiting for closing them? They will never be closed by local efforts due to the poverty trap.

It is time to understand that global interconnectivity is growing exponentially faster than global cooperation and appropriate institutional development. The current international aid tools correspond to the Cold War Era, while the current global risks correspond to the post 9/11 world. The same pattern identified in climate change discussions (too slow, too late) is again identified in Ebola response.

The Ebola drama just started – let’s hope that besides the thousands of losses that are expected, it will also create a wave of change for our outdated international cooperation systems. And this is mostly for the developed countries that should take the lead and implement a new system of global cooperation patterns and initiatives. Otherwise, no one is safe!

Nikos Gargoulas holds a Master Degree(M.Eng.) in Environmental Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology, USA and a Bachelor’s Degree (B.Sc.) in Chemistry from the University of Athens, Greece. He...

Carlos Silva Filho is Regional Development Network Representative of ISWA and Coordinator of the South America sub-regional secretariat for IPLA.
(Coordinator of the South America sub-regional secretariat for IPLA - International...

Costas Velis is Director of FUELOGY, a specialised research and management consultancy, delivering solutions on resource efficiency and circular economy, working in the interface between traditional solid waste management, resources...

Aida Anthouli is Environmental Management Consultant, specialized in Solid Waste Management, since 2004. She holds a degree in Physics, and a Master in Environmental Management from Vrije Universiteit, The Nethelands....

Dr. Atilio Savino is Vice-President of ARS-Association for Solid Waste Studies, National Member of ISWA in Argentina, and an Honorary Member of ISWA-International Solid Waste Association. Previously he has been...

Alexandros Mavropoulos is a Solid Waste Management Consultant and holds a diploma of Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens. Waste Management Planning, development of Waste Management projects...

Natali Ganfer is an Engineer with broad technical experience, having done intense research on upgrades of landfill gas, feasibility studies on Waste-To-Energy plants implementation, and Waste Management systems at Columbia...

Andreas Mentzis is a Chemical Engineer (National Technical University of Athens), with an MSc in Environmental Technology (Imperial College of Science Technology & Medicine) in the field of environmental technology....

Mrs. Sotiria Skoulaxinou holds a BSc degree in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens and an MSc degree in Environmental Management. She is a highly experienced engineer,...

Anna Karkazi is a Civil Engineer (National Technical University of Athens), with a European Master (EKPA & University of Rotterdam) for Environmental Management and Education. Mrs Karkazi has excellent managerial...